ARTIFACT: Hotel Tudor menu, 1943

 

The artifact of the day is this menu for the Tudor Room, the restaurant in the Hotel Tudor. It is dated August 18, 1943.  

A note from management as to the menu: 

OUR GOVERNMENT ASKS US TO CONSERVE FOOD. You can do so by curtailing the use of sugar and cream, butter, oil and condiments. . . We shall make our menus less elaborate than formerly, but will nevertheless offer an ample selection.  

All seems normal here, save for the cup of Postum, manufactured by the Post Cereal Company. Used as a coffee substitute, it was a caffeine-free drink made from roasted wheat bran and molasses, and a popular choice in 1943.

Above, the back side of the menu, illustrating the disregard for wine at the time ‒ only two varieties were offered, American vs. Imported, although bottle prices were available on request. 

This menu shares a cover with one from the Tudor City Coffee House on July 8, 1944, covered here.